Has AI made “learn to code” obsolete?
Freethink talks to the creator of the world’s most popular AI coding assistant to find out whether learning to code is still worthwhile.
Series|
Hard Reset
How durable, inexpensive robotic hands are made
We met the team at PSYONIC, the minds developing one of the world’s most advanced robotic hands.
A curated selection of thought leaders whose voices deserve to be heard now more than ever.
The AGI economy is coming faster than you think
The impact of AGI on the economy will be big, it’ll happen fast, and it’ll be disruptive. Here’s how the disruption could play out.
It’s far too early to call “peak ideas”
Economic growth is driven by ideas, not resources — and as history shows, the well of innovation is unlikely to ever run dry.
What if you could start civilization over with AI?
Innovators in every industry and field should adopt the same mantra: If you could start fresh with AI, then what would you do?
Three founders look to the future at Freethink’s inaugural Great Progression event
The tech community came together for the launch of the Great Progression event series, curated by Peter Leyden and produced by Freethink.
Predictions of resource scarcity have a fundamental flaw
From where we stand, the true limits to growth are currently unknowable and need not affect any decisions we make today.
If progress has stalled, we need to know why
We need to figure out what drives progress, what might cause it to slow down or stop, and what, if anything, we can do to re-accelerate it.
Why Substack will be the intellectual engine of the 21st century
The 21st-century version of the Royal Society could be the Substack network that we are just starting to build out today.
Cheap AI is causing a power shift in the world’s militaries
The militaries that leverage the low-cost capabilities of AI the most will have a decisive advantage in the future.
How AI could usher in The New Enlightenment
AI could trigger a civilization-scale change for humanity the same way the steam engine helped usher in The Enlightenment 250 years ago.
The missing tech case for how we create an era of abundance
AI and other new technologies could make things that are costly and scarce today, cheap and abundant for all tomorrow.
Why progress was so slow, for so long
Progress was agonizingly slow for most of human history, but the rapid progress of the last few centuries was not a fluke.
Why America reinvents itself every 80 years — and is doing so again
Three separate theories help explain why America enters a period of great progress every 80 years — and why another is coming soon.
What a historian in 2100 might say about Trump’s America
President Donald Trump might clear the way for the building of 21st-century systems and open up the political space for a new way forward.
“Stopping climate change” is the wrong goal
Anything that matters to humans should be under our control. The climate matters—so we should control the climate.
How DeepSeek rewrote the rules of the AI race
Chinese startup DeepSeek has proven that vast quantities of capital and cutting-edge chips aren’t prerequisites for world-class AI.
Series|
Hard Reset
Moon landings are back, baby! Feat. Firefly Aerospace
“These investments we make in exploring our universe have always paid dividends. That drive to explore these frontiers is what forces us to be creative and inventive.”
Series|
Hard Reset
Inside the insane lab making fuel from thin air
Come with us to visit Terraform Industries, the start-up harnessing artificial photosynthesis to make fossil-free fuel.
Get inspired with the most innovative stories shaping the world around us.
Original Series

This is a show about rebuilding the world from scratch and reimagining everything from first principles.